I said, "Every person I know in the military is an adult who voluntarily made the CHOICE to serve the country and took a solemn OATH to follow the orders of the President. Stop portraying them as children. Stop pretending they were all tricked into military service. Stop trying to convince us that a small minority of parents who are using their own childrens' honorable service as a springboard for their fringe ideas should have the authority to set policy for this nation. Last time I checked George W. Bush was President, not Cindy Sheehan or Al Franken."

Don replied, "James: Where do you get the idea that anyone is "portraying them as children"?I'm used to hearing the same two or three insane Bush regime talking points over and over and over again, but this one doesn't make any sense.Other than the voices in your head, who is saying that?"

So I quickly went back to a few of the things I'd read recently that give that impression.

"But his humanitarianism will remain inhumane as long as he fails to understand that the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute." Maureen Dowd, 10 Aug"There is nothing more painful or more heart breaking than a parent losing a child. ... cold reality of war is that someone’s child actually dies ..." - Greg Szymanski, Columnist, Lewis News"...quit forcing innocent children to suffer so we can allegedly fight terrorism somewhere besides America." Cindy Sheehan"I would have taken him to Canada. I would never have let him go and try and defend this morally repugnant system we have." - Cindy Sheehan"He’s said that my son -- and the other children we’ve lost -- died for a noble cause." - Cindy Sheehan, 11 Aug"What we as Moms need to stop doing is giving our children to the military industrial war complex... It is up to us Moms to make sure our children are whole and safe. We can start doing this by always opposing the wars that bury our kids before us. So what I am saying to the people who want me to go home and take care of my kids: I AM taking care of my kids, and yours, too. " - Cindy Sheehan, 22 Aug"Every person, war fan, or not, who has had a child killed in this mistake of an occupation ... Getting on with my life means a life without my dear, sweet boy." - Cindy Sheehan, 15 Aug"Why are our young people fighting, dying, and killing in Iraq? What is this noble cause you are sending our young people to Iraq for? ... Why are our nation's children still in harm's way and dying everyday when we all know you lied? " - Cindy Sheehan, 20 Aug

Ironically, Cindy wants it both ways. She wants to say America's children are dying for oil, but when told she should be taking care of her living children she says, "I have news for all of these people, my children are adults... We as mothers need to stop buying into the load of misogynistic crap that our children need our constant presence in their lives so they can thrive and grow."So, wasn't Casey an adult? He was nearly 25. Why did he need his Mom to drive him to Canada? (That's what she said she wanted to do.)

I see the problem here---you've failed to grasp the idea that many English words have more than one definition, and so the reader must use the context of the sentence to determine the correct meaning.

Each of these speakers use the word children meaning "the offspring of," or to denote a parent/child relationship.

They are not using the word to mean "immature" or "under the age of consent."

In the future you should concult a good dictionary with usage notes when you get confused (I highly recommend the NEW OXFORD AMERICAN DICTIONARY, available now at your local public library or independent bookseller).

No Don, it's not just the usage. It's the intent and the attitude. The message conveyed by the liberal media and their latest darling, "Mother" Cindy, is that these poor "children" are being deceived and used. That they need their mommy to protect them and make their choices for them.

Casey Sheehan was 24 years old when he REENLISTED in the Army. Why would she think she had the right or the responsibility to "take him to Canada"?